Pix From O Lavrador, a Portuguese Restaurant in Jamaica, Queens

April 7, 2010

One is well advised to enter O Lavrador by the barroom at the left, through a rustic door with the word BAR spelled out in bullet holes, and a gnarled limb as a door pull.

This week, Counter Culture drops anchor at O Lavrador (“The Farmer”), an old-school Portuguese place on the way between downtown Jamaica and JFK Airport. A couple of special menus, and prices a couple of dollars lower than those in the formal restaurant next door, make the barroom a better bet. Pay particular attention to the chalkboard specials, which reflect regional and seasonal seafood and other homestyle specialties.

Following are a few dishes eaten in the barroom, washed down with Portuguese Sagres beer.